Handball
You probably didn't notice but the Japanese national handball team failed the final qualification to the London 2012 Olympic Games in Croatia last week.Team Japan had matches with Croatia, Iceland and Chile, resulting in only one victory with two devastating losses.Although European-style handball is just not as popular as soccer or baseball in Japan, I love this sport because I spent a lot of time playing the sport competitively during my school days.This brings to mind the fundamental problems we have competing with Western Olympic giants like France, Croatia and Denmark with regard to scouting, fostering young talent, physical training and merchandizing. But if we look at South Korea which is our closest rival in Asia, they have almost surpassed many European national teams consisting of massive players.I hope Japan will borrow from our neighbors strategy and not only qualify, but excel at the Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro.I'm waiting for the day when my pub is filled with spectators watching the Japanese national handball team win a medal.